Valkyries Sigrdriva And Brynhildr: Brave Warriors Who Were Punished By God Odin In Norse And Germanic Mythology

Ellen Lloyd - AncientPages.com - Valkyries are essential in poems and stories about legendary hero-warriors in Norse mythology. Riding on horses to battlefields and escorting the souls of dead warriors to Valhalla, Valkyries,  Odin's handmaidens are depicted as prominent figures in several ancient texts.

Meeting of Sigurd and Brynhildr. Illustration by Arthur Rackham. Credit: Public Domain

Valhalla welcomes worthy warriors with mead, but Valkyries' deeds are not always good, and there are situations when they disobey the great Norse God Odin.

Valkyries are encountered in texts of the 12th and 13^th centuries. Many of them have warlike names such as 'Skögul' and 'geirskögul,' which means 'struggle, ''Gun,' which means 'battle' or 'Rist' - 'spear-thrower.'

Sigrdriva: Brave Valkyrie Warrior In Norse Mythology

One of these extraordinary women is Valkyrie Sigrdriva (Sigrdrifa), and we find a beautiful myth about her in a collection of Old Norse poems, "Poetic Edda. "

When hero Sigurd Fafnesbane (or Sigurd Völsung) met her, she was sleeping and dressed in full armor. Sigurd was heading south towards "the land of the Franks" (France). Suddenly, he saw a great light on the mountain, "as if fire were burning, which blazed up to the sky."

Soon, he approached a castle. When he entered the castle, he saw a warrior lying within it asleep, completely armed. He first took the helmet off the warrior's head and saw that it was a woman. Her defensive armor covering the body was as fast as if it had grown to her body, so he ripped it from the upper opening downwards and then through both sleeves. He took the armor off her, and she awoke.

When Sigurd asked her name, she took a horn filled with mead and gave him the memory drink.

Sigurd learned that she was Sigrdrifa, a Valkyrie. She said that two kings were at war with each other, and one of them was a great old warrior, Hialmgunnar, to whom Odin had promised a victory.

Unfortunately, Sigrdrifa defeated Hialmgunnar in battle.

As a punishment, Odin pricked her with a 'sleep thorn,' a magical tool that could put someone into a long and deep sleep, and declared that she should never have victory in battle and should be given from now on in marriage.

Odin intended to teach her a lesson, but the brave Valkyrie responded that she had sworn a great oath that she would never wed a man who knew fear.

In the end, Sigurd asked Sigrdrífa to share her wisdom of all worlds with him, and she provided the hero with all knowledge about prophecy, mystic wisdom, and the art of inscribing runes.

Brynhildr: A Valkyrie In Germanic Mythology

In Germanic mythology, we encounter a shieldmaiden named Brynhildr. There are many striking similarities between Brynhildr and Sigrdriva.

It is fair to assume that the exact mythological figure was worshiped under different names in different countries.

"Brynhild" (1897) by Gaston Bussière

Brynhildr appears in the Völsunga saga and some Eddic poems. In the Völsunga saga, she is presented as a Valkyrie and daughter of Budli, a Swedish king.

Brynhildr was told to decide on a fight between two kings, Hjalmgunnar and Agnar. Knowing that Odin favored the older king, Hjalmgunnar, she chose the battle for Agnar. Brynhild was imprisoned in a remote castle on top of Mount Hindarfjall. Odin disapproved of her actions and punished her for living the life of a mortal woman.

There, she slept in a ring of flames behind a wall of shields until a hero named Sigurðr killed the dragon Fafnir, entered the castle, and awoke her. The two fell in love, and Sigurðr proposed to her with the magic ring Andvaranaut.

In Norse mythology, Andvaranaut, also called Andvari's loom, is a powerful, magical ring capable of producing gold. The shape-shifting dwarf Andvari forged it. According to the Völsunga saga, Brynhildr bore Sigurðr a daughter, Aslaug, who married the famous Viking Ragnar Lodbrok.

It is worth mentioning that the history of Brynhildr also describes her contacts with the Huns. Interestingly, in 2016, a gold pendant depicting the Norse God Odin and his horse Sleipnir was discovered on a farm in Kungsbacka, Sweden. Archaeologists think the precious jewelry can be linked to the Heruli, the Huns, and ancient Romans.

The story of Sigrdrifa may have inspired the Sleeping Beauty tale.

Updated on October 18, 2023

Written by  Ellen Lloyd – AncientPages.com

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